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TexShare Advisory Board Meeting
December 7, 2000

Meeting Minutes

In the absence of Eva Poole, TexShare Advisory Board Vice-Chair, senior Board member Joe McCord opened the meeting.

1. Review/Revise Agenda:

Agenda approved without amendment.

2. Welcome new Advisory Board members

Dr. McCord welcomed two of the Board's new members:

Eileen Shocket, Chief Librarian, St. Edwards University Library, Austin. Ms. Shocket has worked at St. Edwards since 1975, and has served in her current post since 1985. In April 1998, Ms. Shocket was appointed to the Library Working Group of the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board, and became chair of that committee in July 1999. A resident of Buda Texas, Ms. Shocket has served two terms on the board of the Moreau Public Library in Buda, and written grant proposals to secure funding for the Buda library. Ms. Shocket earned her BA and MLS degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and replaces Robert Seal as one of the Board's two private academic institution representatives.

Glenda Swink, Library Director, Southwest Texas Junior College, Uvalde. Ms. Swink has served in her current post since 1994. Her previous experience includes five years as Director of the Uvalde County Public Library, and nine years as a school librarian for the Uvalde CISD. A native Houstonian, Ms. Swink received a BA from the University of Houston, and earned her MLS from Sam Houston State University. Ms. Swink will fill the seat vacated by George Huffman, and will serve as one of the Board's two community college representatives.

The Board's third new member is J. J. Baskin, President of the Austin Public Library Foundation. A former Director of National Business Development with the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Baskin has served as a business consultant for Internet and high tech firms. He has a BA from Trinity University and an MPA from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. Mr. Baskin replaces Grant Jones, Abilene, as one of the Board's two representatives of the general public. Mr. Baskin was unable to attend this Board meeting.

3. Election of TexShare Advisory Board Officers:

Chair: Joe McCord (Paul Dumont nominated, seconded by Marsha Harper). Elected by acclamation. As elected chair, Joe McCord presided over remainder of meeting. He will serve a one-year term.

4. TexShare Working Group Reports:

Card Program

Jay Clark reported that the TexShare Card program continues its expansion to serve public libraries. He reported that all academic libraries rejoined the Card Program by signing the revised card participation agreement. Fifty public libraries have joined the Card program so far.

Clark noted that the TexShare Card Working Group designed the new Card Agreement to enable individual libraries to exercise increased control over circulating their collections to TexShare members. The Board asked the Card Working Group to remind participants that clients need to present positive photo identification when they use their TexShare cards. A meeting of the working group is scheduled for February 8.

Courier Program

In November, the Courier group conducted a pilot survey to determine TExpress turnaround times. The survey provided useful information, and allowed the group to try methodologies that will be useful in future surveys. To improve turnaround times, the courier vendor plans to add additional hubs in the Panhandle area on January 2. On February 13, the group will hold a conference call meeting to continue monitoring the courier service.

Jo Anne Hawkins reported that April Bennington has resigned as chair of the Courier Working Group. Ms. Bennington will remain as a member of the working group through 2001. Her replacement as chair is Jerilynn Williams, director of the Montgomery County Library System. Jerilynn will begin her term as Working Group chair on January 1, 2001.

Education Program

Bonnie Juergens reported that the Education Working Group's planned activities for FY2001 to include:

A follow-up survey to validate and clarify data from the last TexShare Education survey.

Workshops on Gale databases, netLibrary, grant writing and the ILL workshop sponsored by the ILL Working Group

Development of a standardized evaluation instrument for TexShare education events.

Members of the Education Working group are contacting chairs of other TexShare working groups to elicit information about training needs, and to coordinate activities with those groups.

Electronic Information

Tommie Wingfield reported that a subcommittee of the Electronic Information Working Group selected 5,000 electronic book titles from netLibrary. Now the subcommittee is replacing extra copies of netLibrary titles that experienced lower use than anticipated. Ms. Wingfield said the subcommittee hopes to compile more statistical data and input from TexShare members to guide future e-book purchases.

The working group is exploring ways to provide catalog records for netLibrary holdings as well. Marty Adamson suggested that TexShare have a single unified e-book catalog to which all TexShare libraries can point. Sue Phillips suggested that the virtual union catalog component of Library of Texas be configured to accommodate this.

Based on a survey of TexShare libraries, the working group has identified categories of databases for purchase. They also identified specific products within those categories. In selecting databases, the group will balance the benefits of starting with a clean slate against the advantages of retaining existing offerings to achieve continuity.

ILL Program

Sara Lowman reported that the Interlibrary Loan workshop is scheduled for June 1, 2001 in Dallas. As many as 200 attendees are expected. At its upcoming meeting in January, the group intends to discuss cooperative collection development.

TexTreasures

Reporting for Kathy Hoffman, who was unable to attend the meeting, Michael Piper said grant application materials for the next TexTreasures grant cycle will be posted on the TexShare Web site within 10 days.

5. Strategic Partner Reports

Amigos Library Services

Bonnie Juergens and Michael Piper updated the Board on the TExpress service. The current courier agreement, which expires on December 31, has been extended through February. This will allow time for the State Library to finish the process of re-bidding the courier contract, and assure uninterrupted service for TExpress sites.

This new TExpress contract will be approved at the February 5 meeting of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. It will be a 6-month contract, extending from March 1 through August 30, 2001. In March, TExpress sites will be billed for service during the period from January 1 through August 31, 2001. The amount of this invoice will be based on the new contract price, and will be announced as soon as possible.

Thereafter, each yearly TExpress service period will match the state fiscal year, which goes from September through August. In subsequent TExpress contracts, participants will pay one invoice for their entire 12-month service period. The TexShare Advisory Board and the State Library are committed to keeping this amount as close to the current price as possible.

Amigos will issue a statement to participants in the program addressing the issues of billing and service that arise due to this process.

Ms. Juergens also reported that Amigos has worked with State Library staff to select leather portfolios and pen sets as gifts for TexShare Advisory Board members whose terms expire. The Board authorized Amigos to purchase 10 of these items, at a cost of $534. These items will be purchased with pre-FY 1999 TexShare funds administered by Amigos. After this purchase, Amigos will have a remaining balance of $1,433 from TexShare management contracts awarded prior to fiscal year 1999.

The University of Texas at Austin

Sue Phillips reported that no major problems have been reported on the primary databases loaded at UT Austin. ABI & Periodical Abstract show a decrease in use. This could be due to the text-only format of the data. Although UT-Austin loads the tapes as soon as they arrive, there is also a problem with receiving database tapes in a timely manner. Ms. Phillips recommended that TexShare move away from tape loads in the future.

6. Administrative Report

Audit recommendations

Michael Piper reported that Deborah Littrell, previously the TexShare Coordinator for TSLAC, has started her new position as head of Library Development Division. Piper expects to begin recruitment for this position as soon as possible.

Piper reported that the internal audit report of the Library Resource Sharing Division has been received and that TSLAC is preparing administrative response for approval at the February 5, 2001 Commission meeting. The audit report had five TexShare-related recommendations:

1) Database procurement procedures need to be reviewed to ensure compliance with state purchasing requirements.

2) The State Library should develop a written procedure to formally monitor the courier service contract.

3) TexTreasures grant proposal review cover sheets should include reviewer names and date when they performed the review.

4) The Education Working Group should time their work so recommendations can be made and approved by the TexShare Advisory Board early in the fiscal year, to give staff adequate time to plan and organize training for the next year.

5) At the end of each month, the State Library's accounting office should provide a report of TexShare invoice payments to speed identification of outstanding invoices and payments received.

Working Group nominations

Michael Piper presented nominees for terms on TexShare working groups, starting January 1, 2001. These recommendations continue the effort toward integrating public librarians into the TexShare committee membership. In some cases, expired terms will be left unfilled to achieve more equal representation among academic and public libraries. The Advisory Board endorsed the following TexShare working group appointments for 2001:

Education Working Group

Develop a new evaluation instrument, which will be used for all TexShare training events.

Assist with marketing of TexShare training events.

Electronic Information Working Group

Recommend expanded databases for the Library of Texas initiative, using the expanded funding made possible by the grant from the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board.

Keep TexShare members informed as the database selection process unfolds, including posting an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) on the TexShare Web site. This is especially important now, since some libraries may be unaware of the expanded funding available for databases made possible by the Library of Texas initiative. This expanded funding, along with the recommendation from the Fees Task Force for a common set of databases for both academic and public libraries, means TexShare database offerings will change in FY 2002.

ILL Working Group

Plan workshop/conference for June 2001.

Help in marketing TexShare ILL activities.

Marty Adamson suggested that there is a need for a liaison between this group, the Courier group, and the Education group.

TexTreasures Working Group

Peer review of grant proposals

Survey membership

Review final reports from previous grant cycles

Market the TexTreasures grant program

The board discussed a working group to improve communication among members and heighten awareness of TexShare programs. Michael Piper agreed to add marketing to the TexShare coordinator's position description. The Board also agreed to add a marketing component to charges for existing working groups, and decided to discuss this further at a future meeting.

TexShare Marketing Plan

Continuing a topic initiated at an earlier meeting, the Board reviewed the latest TexShare marketing plans, and approved the following actions:

Direct Mail Brochure to Public Library Directors.This mailing will include an overview of TexShare services, and an invitation to participate in TexShare services. It is intended to increase awareness about TexShare services. Planned rollout: January 2001.

Custom mailing to non-participating libraries. To complement the direct mail piece, the Board approved a mailing to public libraries that do not participate in the database program. Board members suggested that regional library systems be asked to help in raising awareness of non-participants. Another suggestion: custom mailings to libraries that participate in only the database program, encouraging their expanded participation in other TexShare services. Planned rollout: January 2001.

Interlibrary Loan Bookmarks. The Board asked staff to investigate custom bookmarks, which would be printed and distributed in volume to libraries that participate in Interlibrary Loan. Any book or resource loaned from one library to another can be flagged with a bookmark, identifying it with the message:"Interlibrary Loan of this item is supported by the resource sharing programs of TexShare." Planned rollout: To be determined.

TexShare Databases 3-Ring Binders. The Board endorsed the distribution of vendor-provided 3-Ring binders to public libraries as a tool for organizing the information on databases provided by TexShare. The Board requested that academics be included in the program as well. Planned rollout: January 2001.

TexShare Window Decals to inform patrons of a library's participation in TexShare programs. These decals on library doors and windows will bring visibility and added use to these programs. Planned rollout: February 2001.

Piper reported that there is not a TexShare line item for marketing, but there are other line items in the TexShare and Library Resource Sharing budgets that can be used for expenditures on informational materials. Library Resource Sharing staff will figure cost estimates on these marketing items and report at future TexShare Advisory Board meetings.

After discussing the advisability of forming a new committee to coordinate TexShare marketing, the Board agreed to re-visit this topic later. Piper will add marketing to the TexShare Coordinator's position description, and consult with the State Library's Public Information Officer, then report at the Board's February meeting.

Update on Library of Texas

Loan Star Libraries

Loan Star Libraries is a proposal for direct state aid to Texas public libraries. This partnership between the State of Texas and local political jurisdictions is intended to:

Improve public library services statewide.

Ensure access to adequate public library resources and services for all Texans.

Provide an incentive to local communities to extend public library services without charge to those residing outside each public library's legal service area.

Build the capacity of each public library to serve as the information resource and lifelong learning center for their community.

Enhance the public library's ability to serve Texans in the "Digital Divide."

Improve each public library's ability to provide access point to e-government.

The Loan Star Libraries proposal is a $40 million exceptional item request in the Texas State Library and Archives Commission's requested budget for FY2002-2003. The Texas Legislature must approve and fund the proposal to make it a reality.

Since the primary purpose of the Loan Star Libraries program is to extend public library resources to all Texans, participating libraries would receive incentives to encourage them to eliminate non-resident fees. The Board discussed possible implications of this proposed legislation on the TexShare Card program, and agreed to re-visit this issue if the Loan Star Libraries initiative receives funding.